Monday, October 23, 2017

Final push tonight to finish up the fall boat projects aboard the Key of Sea. Also, pay day for my mechanic.

Tonight he installed the new Y-valve, the last thing needed doing. The old valve was cracked when he removed it. The new one is considerably better built and he mounted it to the bulkhead. The old one just sat, unmounted , on the floor of the utility tunnel. Everytime it was turned it probably added to its demise.

The Y-valve controls the directional flow of the waste tank contents. Turn it one way and waste can be pumped out using a Marina’s pumping system. Turn it the other way and waste is pumped overboard through the macerator pump directly into the sea. This can only be done in certain places in Canadian waters. In the US the valve must be zip tied in the marina pump out position.

Failure to do this is subject to a hefty fine from the Coast Guard.

Here's a series of photos of the valve mounted to the bulkhead, much easier to get at than its old location. Also, notice all the new white hoses running around. The macerator pump is in the foreground and just behind the sky blue cylinder is the waste tank. Above the new valve is a grey box with a red switch. This is the macerator pump switch. A circuit breaker on the DC panel below the main helm must be on before this switch can be activated. This prevents the pump from accidently running when thee is no liquid in the line. The pump would burn up if that happened.

When I got on the boat this evening the old odd non-descript smell had disappeared. So, I guess we did need to replace those old toilet hoses!